Ch.250Chapter 10. Manufactured Hero (2)

Erasing one’s personality is the same as killing a person.

The reason I think this way is because I’ve watched one by one as people have had their personalities erased and become new humans.

“Oppa.”

Yoon Hye-ra approached my side.

“You worked hard. Erasing the memories of about 70 people.”

[I just swung my bat. The real hard work was done by the Lady and the kids.]

From above the conference hall—a room like a theater that others couldn’t see—we looked down through the glass window.

Women with blank faces and bandages wrapped tightly around their heads sat demurely on the floor, staring ahead. All wearing identical white mourning clothes, each with a booklet on their knees, they sat in perfect posture waiting for someone to ascend the podium.

[It’s starting.]

Step, step.

Lady Tai climbed onto the podium.

“Ah.”

Though there was no microphone, she infused her voice with mana, projecting it to everyone in the conference hall.

“Until now, you have all lived as evil people.”

Music began to play softly throughout the conference hall.

The women stared blankly ahead, mouths slightly open, as the sound of birds and the quiet melody of a gayageum filled the air.

“God has given you an opportunity. Those who willingly entered the pit of evil have all burned to death, but you who were forced into the abyss by others have been saved. You have forgotten your former, ugly selves and been reborn anew.”

The women shed tears at Lady Tai’s words.

Though they had no memories, something must have resonated deep within their hearts.

“Forget. Forget everything from before. And accept that losing your memories is a blessing—a gift from God to bless your new life.”

Though their memories are gone, their bodies still remember.

No matter how much you seal or erase memories, you can’t completely erase the scars on the body, the memory in the hands, or the memory in the tongue.

But still, future experiences will eventually cover those memories.

“From now on, you will live lives dedicated to serving others. You will abandon your ugly selfishness and live with altruism, serving others. You will now live under the title of ‘Big Mother,’ abandoning your previous names and living with new ones.”

They’re all ordinary names.

So ordinary that if you looked on the street, you could find about ten people with such names in an hour. Each is given a name like Susan, Ginny, Charlotte, or Maria.

“The job of a Big Mother is simple. To raise infants. To feed bottles to children abandoned by their parents at birth, to hold them when they cry, and to care for them.”

These women who had given birth many times but never properly raised a child.

If there is a punishment given to them, it’s to spend the rest of their lives caring for and raising children.

“You will be sent all over the world. Some to orphanages, some to temples, some to churches, some to social welfare facilities. To care for children who are being abandoned on streets at a rate of at least one per minute, you will contribute to humanity with love throughout the world.”

Some might say this isn’t punishment.

There are those who believe only death is punishment, and there are many within the Syndicate who hold such opinions.

But even they understand.

‘We need all the help we can get.’

Even they know that if we don’t kill the personalities of those who deserve to die, reeducate them, and send them to the lower rungs of society, there are too many children in this world who would die under cold walls.

For the Syndicate to manage everything, there is simply too much darkness and malice created by this world.

“Someday, if you ever regain yourselves. If after a long time, you find your past selves in the swamp of memory.”

Even if they discover in their subconscious who they once were—women who seduced men, killed children, and lived deep underground on the island—the memories of living as Big Mothers will overwhelm them.

“You may not be able to cover all your sins with good deeds, but at least it will be some atonement.”

For life.

“You will learn the end of your life of raising and dedicating yourselves to other children when the time comes.”

Until you learn to love.

“Big Mother will care for children until death.”

Or until the body grows too old to move.

“From now on, you will be mothers, nurses, godmothers, and heroes for abandoned children.”

* * *

A little later.

I released my transformation and rested with Yoon Hye-ra at a different hotel in Bangkok.

“Machines working solely for the public good.”

They’re not machines, but if humans act like machines, shouldn’t they be called machines?

I’m not trying to debate philosophical issues, but that’s the situation now.

“Oppa. Think simply.”

Yoon Hye-ra handed me a glass of wine with a wink.

“The problem is the world that forces us to do this, and we’re taking the fastest path to overthrow that world.”

“Everything for world peace.”

Clink.

The wine is bitter.

No alcohol in the world isn’t bitter, but today it seems especially so.

“Are there any women who joined the Syndicate?”

“No. Those who kept their memories only agreed to go outside as ‘witnesses.'”

There are those whose memories weren’t erased.

Not because they want to overcome their terrible memories on their own, but because they want to expose the truth to the world about what they experienced.

-The Succubus Island was hell.

It’s more effective to have former succubi become witnesses than for the Syndicate to expose what happened on Succubus Island.

And simultaneously, we plan to make one propaganda through them.

“The one who operated Succubus Island was Laplace. And behind Laplace was a demon from Pandemonium. That name is…”

“A demon who called herself ‘Hyangdan.'”

That behind all these incidents is an absolute evil like Dueoksini—Pandemonium-Wijungcheoksa.

It might be obvious, but we couldn’t find any information about Hyangdan on Succubus Island.

We couldn’t find anything around Laplace either, so we decided to draw attention to lure Hyangdan out.

If we expose everything and name Hyangdan as the true culprit, there will surely be a reaction from somewhere.

Then we can move accordingly.

Just like when we caught Dueoksini, we just need to create the situation.

“Hye-ra.”

“Yes, oppa.”

“Then let’s—”

Beep beep beep.

Both our Taegeuk Watches started ringing loudly.

Wondering why they were ringing at this hour, I checked my watch and saw it was an emergency disaster message sent by the Thai Hero Association through the base station.

“…What is this?”

“Looks like there’s been an incident in Phuket?”

We immediately turned on the TV.

Although Phuket is far from Bangkok, because there were so many reporters in Phuket, the situation was being broadcast live.

[…according to reports, villains have attempted a mass prison break…!]

“…What is this now.”

What on earth is happening?

The streets of Phuket were in even more chaos than when tanks were roaming around.

[Kyaaaah!!]

[It’s dangerous! Run!! Damn, it’s villains!!]

And for good reason—entities even more dangerous than tanks were running wild.

[Hahaha! I’m back! Nguyen, come out now! If you don’t, I’ll turn everyone here to dust!!]

“……”

Villain Phupatphong and others, hastily dressed in prison uniforms, were destroying the streets.

Much faster and more precise than tanks, they were causing indiscriminate terror.

[You bastards!!]

Heroes were responding, but with battles already taking place in urban areas, civilian casualties were occurring in real time.

“…Hye-ra. I think I just had a crazy thought.”

Yoon Hye-ra, who had been urgently texting the Tavern Owner for information, turned to me.

“Tell me.”

“If I were going to ruin everything with a do-or-die attitude, I would first open all the prisons.”

“…Who would do such a thing to ruin everything?”

“Obviously the corrupt people in this country.”

“Wow… that’s almost scary how right you are. Oppa, you’re like a psychic.”

“Not psychic. Just…”

Well.

Episodes like this happened occasionally in the original work.

Not in Thailand, but similar unrest occurred in other countries.

In a city in New York.

The first action taken by a villain group that occupied a city after collapsing a football stadium was to take over prisons and release the inmates.

“Whether Hyangdan or someone else is behind this… this won’t end with Phuket.”

[Ah, breaking news! Fires at prisons across Thailand!!]

“…Wow, this is going to be a full-scale riot.”

If “villain” is a specific term referring to powered individuals,

From now on, not only villains but also “evil people” will begin pouring into the streets.

“…Oppa. I found out who’s behind this.”

“Who is it?”

“…The Red Wolf General’s honor guard who remained in Bangkok.”

Yoon Hye-ra covered her face with her hands and gritted her teeth.

“They’ve opened all the prison doors across the country, trying to bring this entire nation to ruin.”

It’s not just powered villains who drive this world to madness.